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How are serious felony offenses that occurred as youth viewed?

06-28-2012, 04:06 AM

I understand that some amount of "youthful indiscretions" are tolerated during the BI process, and most of the posters posting on this forum are worried about things they did in their late teens (smoking pot, stealing a CD, bedding their 17 year old girlfriend while they were 18, etc). How about when it comes to a serious felony offense at a younger age, say between 9-13? Would these be dismissed during BI with a "too young to understand" mentality, or would this red flag the applicant as "troubled youth, do not touch"?

I can't say I'm asking out of sheer curiosity. I'm in my late 20s now and well-adjusted after learning life's lessons the hard way (I have kept my nose clean), but as a young youth around 2 decades ago I did commit a serious felony offense that went undetected/unreported. It's been haunting me like the ghost of Christmas past ever since and would be helpful for me to know if this will turn into a "maybe, depending on the circumstances" vs a "probably/definitely no chance", as I have some difficult decisions to make regarding my education very soon.

Sidenote: I am looking at LEO occupations at both the federal and local levels, if your response differs for either

I understand that some amount of "youthful indiscretions" are tolerated during the BI process, and most of the posters posting on this forum are worried about things they did in their late teens (smoking pot, stealing a CD, bedding their 17 year old girlfriend while they were 18, etc). How about when it comes to a serious felony offense at a younger age, say between 9-13? Would these be dismissed during BI with a "too young to understand" mentality, or would this red flag the applicant as "troubled youth, do not touch"?

I can't say I'm asking out of sheer curiosity. I'm in my late 20s now and well-adjusted after learning life's lessons the hard way (I have kept my nose clean), but as a young youth around 2 decades ago I did commit a serious felony offense that went undetected/unreported. It's been haunting me like the ghost of Christmas past ever since and would be helpful for me to know if this will turn into a "maybe, depending on the circumstances" vs a "probably/definitely no chance", as I have some difficult decisions to make regarding my education very soon.

Sidenote: I am looking at LEO occupations at both the federal and local levels, if your response differs for either

What did you do?

Comment

You're being pretty evasive concerning what you did. That'll get by here, but not in a hiring process. If you committed any of the offenses you listed, you're toast. Don't bother to apply. In general, and we've done numerous discussions on this topic, any offense committed as a juvenile is viewed in it's totality of circumstances. Juvenile Court adjudications are not considered felony convictions in the full sense of the term. You should know however, that an agency will consider the offense in light of it's hiring standards, and it could very well be a DQ. At some point in the hiring process, you'll be asked if you've ever committed an offense/crime for which you were never arrested or prosecuted. You should also know that the Background Investigator merely gathers facts. The decision to hire or DQ an applicant lies with people more highly placed in the hiring chain. For a wealth of information on this very topic, I suggest you use the "Search Function". As I noted, we've done many discussions on this topic. You should find the information helpful and informative.

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I understand that some amount of "youthful indiscretions" are tolerated during the BI process, and most of the posters posting on this forum are worried about things they did in their late teens (smoking pot, stealing a CD, bedding their 17 year old girlfriend while they were 18, etc). How about when it comes to a serious felony offense at a younger age, say between 9-13? Would these be dismissed during BI with a "too young to understand" mentality, or would this red flag the applicant as "troubled youth, do not touch"?

I can't say I'm asking out of sheer curiosity. I'm in my late 20s now and well-adjusted after learning life's lessons the hard way (I have kept my nose clean), but as a young youth around 2 decades ago I did commit a serious felony offense that went undetected/unreported. It's been haunting me like the ghost of Christmas past ever since and would be helpful for me to know if this will turn into a "maybe, depending on the circumstances" vs a "probably/definitely no chance", as I have some difficult decisions to make regarding my education very soon.

Sidenote: I am looking at LEO occupations at both the federal and local levels, if your response differs for either

I would say that despite your obvious evasive statements, I would draw from the following to frame my thinking on this:

but as a young youth around 2 decades ago I did commit a serious felony offense that went undetected/unreported

And say right off the bat that your chances are slim to none with a chance of never.

The genesis behind absolving someone of â€œyouthful indiscretionsâ€ is to forgive minor misconduct; not as you put it â€œserious felony offensesâ€. Even if the statute of limitations has passed; which varies widely, you are still looking at major, if not insurmountable obstacles. While you have not disclosed the true nature of said serious felony, I will let you know that in some cases, the statute of limitations clock only starts ticking when the crime is detectedâ€¦.

Originally posted by SSD

It has long been the tradition on this forum and as well as professionally not to second guess or Monday morning QB the officer's who were actually on-scene and had to make the decision. That being said, I don't think that your discussion will go very far on this board.

I think it's obvious... One day while making meth he decided to buy supplies and used a credit card that he stole from his dad. He went to pick up the supplies from the store and assaulted an employee with a deadly weapon, almost killing him when the guy asked, "hey kid! what are you doing, making meth or something." Later that day he decided to sell his stack of child pornography to a random stranger incase his dad came snooping around his room looking for the credit card. When he got home he "flipped" and sexual assaulted his neighber and started his house on fire to cover the crime. He had no choice but to hack into the computer mainframe of his school to change his grades to an 'A' because he spent all day making dope instead of studying. He was very hungry after a long day and robbed a bank on the way to Mcdonalds to grab a happy meal.

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Michigan, I looked up "too much time on your hands" in the dictionary and it was you!!!!!!! Your post is the type of crap I come up with while running stationary radar with nothing else going on. That is why I love texting. I fill everyone's phone up with a bunch of crap that I come up with while waiting to harass a member of the general public, just to prove that the police state is alive and well.

Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

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All right I give up! I was trying to get a confession from this guy and you people are ruining it!! : )

I think it's obvious... One day while making meth he decided to buy supplies and used a credit card that he stole from his dad. He went to pick up the supplies from the store and assaulted an employee with a deadly weapon, almost killing him when the guy asked, "hey kid! what are you doing, making meth or something." Later that day he decided to sell his stack of child pornography to a random stranger incase his dad came snooping around his room looking for the credit card. When he got home he "flipped" and sexual assaulted his neighber and started his house on fire to cover the crime. He had no choice but to hack into the computer mainframe of his school to change his grades to an 'A' because he spent all day making dope instead of studying. He was very hungry after a long day and robbed a bank on the way to Mcdonalds to grab a happy meal.

So does this mean he is out of the running for a LE job?

Originally posted by SSD

It has long been the tradition on this forum and as well as professionally not to second guess or Monday morning QB the officer's who were actually on-scene and had to make the decision. That being said, I don't think that your discussion will go very far on this board.

Originally posted by Iowa #1603

And now you are arguing about not arguing..................

Comment

I understand that some amount of "youthful indiscretions" are tolerated during the BI process, and most of the posters posting on this forum are worried about things they did in their late teens (smoking pot, stealing a CD, bedding their 17 year old girlfriend while they were 18, etc). How about when it comes to a serious felony offense at a younger age, say between 9-13? Would these be dismissed during BI with a "too young to understand" mentality, or would this red flag the applicant as "troubled youth, do not touch"?

I can't say I'm asking out of sheer curiosity. I'm in my late 20s now and well-adjusted after learning life's lessons the hard way (I have kept my nose clean), but as a young youth around 2 decades ago I did commit a serious felony offense that went undetected/unreported. It's been haunting me like the ghost of Christmas past ever since and would be helpful for me to know if this will turn into a "maybe, depending on the circumstances" vs a "probably/definitely no chance", as I have some difficult decisions to make regarding my education very soon.

If you did truly commit a â€œserious felonyâ€ I really doubt any major agency is going to want you as a member EVER

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at most reputable agencies----------if you admit to ANY of the above during a BIâ€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.you would be toast.

Some of those--------would probably get you arrested on the spot when you admitted to them

If you did truly commit a â€œserious felonyâ€ I really doubt any major agency is going to want you as a member EVER

Nope

So what are his chances?

Originally posted by SSD

It has long been the tradition on this forum and as well as professionally not to second guess or Monday morning QB the officer's who were actually on-scene and had to make the decision. That being said, I don't think that your discussion will go very far on this board.